David Letterman, who hosted The Late Show for nearly two decades before Stephen Colbert, recently spoke out about the latter’s exit from the network this year. CBS is replacing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. The Late Show will conclude on May 21, 2026.
David Letterman talks about CBS replacing Stephen Colbert
Veteran comedian and host David Letterman reacted to Stephen Colbert’s exit from CBS during a recent conversation on The Barbara Gaines Show. Before Colbert, Letterman hosted the show, then known as The Late Show with David Letterman, for over two decades. Colbert replaced Letterman in 2015.
Now, Stephen Colbert’s show will be replaced with Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. Reacting to this change, Letterman said, “They don’t want to spend any money, so they’re going to make money.” He added, “They charge Byron Allen some reasonable price. He sells all the advertising for his Comics Unleashed, and it’ll be, I think, 90 minutes or two hours of comics talking about funny stuff.”
Letterman continued, “The show is a pretty good idea. It’s all panel. Nobody’s doing any stand-up, except they’re seated doing stand-up.”
After The Late Show with Stephen Colbert signs off on May 21, CBS will start airing Comics Unleashed in the 11:35 p.m. timeslot from May 22. Previously, Comics Unleashed was at the 12:35 p.m. timeslot. Going forward, another Allen-produced series, Funny You Should Ask, will take up the 12:35 a.m spot.
Allen, founder, chairman, and CEO of Allen Media Group, previously said in a statement, “I created and launched Comics Unleashed 20 years ago so my fellow comedians could have a platform to do what we all love — make people laugh” (via The Independent).
Allen is buying the slot to air his show in place of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which means CBS could turn some profit.
Originally reported by Sourav Chakraborty on Mandatory.
